11 Ways Marketers Can Use Twitter Polls

Twitter is the most popular social network for consumers looking to voice their thoughts and opinions. If you ever want to know how customers feel about a new product, or if they had a bad experience with your company, start with Twitter. In October 2015, Twitter made it even easier for brands to listen to their customers with Twitter Polls.

Now you can create native polls in less than a minute with Twitter Polls, which ultimately let you collect valuable feedback from your audience.

Why Twitter Polls?

One of the greatest benefits of Twitter Polls is its ease of use. Most people don’t look forward to completing online surveys or feedback cards unless they’re getting something in return. They require you to go to a website, fill out your information and then answer questions. With Twitter Polls, all a user has to do is choose an answer and they’re done. You’re not making them go to an external website or complete pages of questions.

Also, the social aspect of the polls takes away the negative stigma associated with traditional surveys. The results show up immediately and you can Retweet the poll to your followers, which helps it spread organically.

If you’ve been contemplating social media polls but aren’t sure how to implement them, here are 11 ways to be successful with Twitter Polls:

1. Tweet Polls Consistently

Tweeting polls consistently gives followers a reason to keep coming back to your profile. Even brands with large followings struggle to get people to go directly to their Twitter profile. This is because most users scroll through their own feed looking at the latest Tweets from all the accounts they follow. When you have a daily or weekly poll, followers are more likely to visit your profile to see the latest Twitter Polls.

The podcast PlayStation Nation hosts a daily Twitter Poll, which entices followers to go directly to its profile, instead of hoping to get noticed amongst thousands of other Tweets.

#DailyPoll Do you think Sony should drop PS3 games from PS+ to give out "better" PS4/Vita games?

2. Chose the Right Poll Length

When creating Twitter Polls, you can set an end date for the voting participation. This creates a sense of urgency, and gives you a set amount of data to look at.

Twitter Polls are set to one day by default. But you can set the length for as little as five minutes or as long as seven days.

The length of your poll will depend on a few factors:

How time sensitive is the question.

How much data do you want to collect.

What day/time will your poll goes live.

Some brands like to Tweet polls based on recent events. For instance, The Dan Le Batard Show created a Twitter Poll after a video surfaced of an awkward handshake between two football players. Since the story was fresh and would die down quickly, the poll was only live for a day.

#poll Yes or No: We should obsess over Dan's hug with Josh Norman? -Guillermo

For Twitter Polls that last longer than a day, it’s a good idea to make them Pinned Tweets. This way the poll will stay at the top of your profile instead of being buried underneath all of your newer Tweets. Once the poll is finished, you can remove it and replace it with a new one.

3. Don’t Forget the Hashtag

If you look at the Twitter Poll examples we’ve given so far, you’ll notice they all contain hashtags. Whether it’s a branded hashtag like #MarvelQuestionoftheWeek or something more generic like #dailypoll, including hashtags can make it easier for people to find your polls and track conversations.

Some users won’t reply directly to your Tweet, but will use your hashtag.

Here’s a tactic to help grow your Twitter account–find a popular hashtag and create a poll for it. This will put your brand in front of millions of people who may not be familiar with your brand, but are searching for topics related to your industry. Read through our guide for tips on how to find the best Twitter hashtags.

When you want to use Twitter Polls to gather data about your customers, make sure you’re asking questions that go beyond demographics. You can use Sprout Social’s Twitter Analytics report to find that information. Instead, reserve Twitter to dig deeper into consumer behavior.

Krispy Kreme launched its Doughnut Bowl campaign during the Super Bowl to find out which flavor of its sweet pastries customers liked best.

Who do you want to win the #DoughnutBowl? Original Glazed vs Glazed Kreme Filled? Vote now in the #Poll

This poll not only revealed which doughnuts customers like the most, but also which flavors they liked the least. The next time you want to learn more about your customers, skip the focus group and online surveys and try a Twitter Poll.

5. Embed Polls in Blog Posts

Twitter Polls don’t have to only live on Twitter. You can also embed them in your website. There are plenty of free tools online to create embeddable polls. However, Twitter Polls give you the added bonus of attracting new followers. The polls are added into pages exactly like normal Tweets, which means they include a clickable Follow button. Here’s how you can make the most out of this feature.

Create a Twitter Poll in conjunction with a blog post. For instance, Joseph Lichterman of Nieman Journalism Lab wrote a blog post about the site’s own Twitter Poll experience. At the end of the post, Lichterman added a new poll to encourage readers to share the article.

This more subtle approach gets Nissan’s message across without appearing like a blatant sales ad. For your next product launch, don’t fill your Twitter feed with promotional Tweets. Integrate a clever poll that makes your product known, while still being entertaining.

7. Ask for Opinions

Nothing builds brand loyalty like showing your customers that you value their opinions. Use Twitter Polls to allow followers and customers to vote on different aspects of your company such as:

New products

New store locations

Content ideas

Logo re-designs

Social media has made the concept of crowdsourcing ideas from customers easier than ever. Thanks to Twitter Polls, you can immediately get input from your followers.

To help decide what font to use for Twitter Polls, the product design and research team went straight to users to ask for their opinions.

When consumers feel invested into brands, they’re more likely to promote and recommend their products and services.

8. Get Customer Feedback

Did you recently release a new product? A Twitter Poll is a great way to gauge customer sentiment. Customer feedback gives you insight into how your followers feel about your current products, as well as tips you can use for future products.

Taco Bell is no stranger to creative Twitter marketing, so it’s not surprising that it chose a Twitter Poll to find out which flavor of Doritos Locos Tacos followers like the most.

10. Push Traffic to Your Website

Twitter Polls are also excellent for increasing website traffic. In order to promote World Antibiotics Awareness Week, World Health Organization (WHO) created a quiz on its website. Then, WHO Tweeted questions from the quiz with a link back to its website to take the entire quiz.

To do something similar, look at your existing content. Think of questions you can pull from it and make it into a Twitter Poll with a link back to your website. For example, we could use a Twitter Poll asking “Have you used Twitter Polls yet?” Then we’d link to this article for people to learn more.

You can use this simple tactic for new content as well as relevant content in your archives.

11. Host Polls During Live Events

One of the biggest assets of Twitter for business is the ability to communicate with followers in real time. You don’t have to wait until after an event is over to engage with your audience.

Combine that timeliness with Twitter Polls to create an immersive experience for your followers like Amazon did at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. During the event, Amazon Tweeted a poll asking followers what they wanted the company to cover during a live Perioscope broadcast.

We're at #CES2016 & letting you choose what we cover. Vote now and watch our Periscope tomorrow!

Using Twitter Polls during live events allows you to tap into the topics your audience is discussing right now. Remember, Twitter is where people go to stay up to date on what’s currently happening around the world and their interests. Put your brand in the middle of the conversation by asking questions related to events they’re likely to be following.

Start Polling

Have you used Twitter Polls for your brand yet? If not, you may be missing out on a huge opportunity to engage with followers and create brand advocates. Use the tactics above and Twitter management tools to get more in-depth with your Tweets!

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Published on April 07, 2016

Dominique Jackson: Dominique Jackson is a pro blogger, inbound marketing specialist and Twitter addict. You can follow all his Tweets @djthewriter.